There have been several proposals for knock-down floor lamps, which lamps are shipped in an unassembled position and then are assembled by the consumer. One such exemplary proposal is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,745,331. In general, prior knock-down floor lamps have had a number of drawbacks associated therewith.
One of the most common drawbacks with prior art knock-down floor lamps is that because of the knock-down configuration thereof they are not prewired, but must be wired by the ultimate consumer, who often is a non-professional. This can pose certain safety and fire hazards, and because of this knock-down lamps are not prewired cannot gain Underwriters Laboratories (U.L.) approval. Another common drawback associated with prior art knock-down floor lamps is that normally the lamp turnings are connected together by screw threaded components so that a rotational movement of one turning with respect to another is necessary. Especially when the turnings are made of wood, there is a tendency for such relative rotational movement to twist wiring extending through the turnings. Also, such wood screw-threaded couplings have a tendency to loosen with age and use, adversely affecting the stability of the assembled lamp. Further problems are encountered with damage to the unassembled components during shipping because of inability to properly position the components with respect to each other, and/or excessively large package volume being taken up by the components due to inability of properly positioning them relative to each other.
The problem of relying upon the ultimate consumer to effect wiring is accentuated since U.L. requirements now specify that electrical products must be wired with a predefined electrical polarity since all new homes are wired with such electrical polarity. New plugs are thus required with one plug prong larger than the other so that an appliance cannot be plugged into a home wall socket unless the proper polarity concurence is provided between the appliance and the home wiring.
According to the present invention, all of the above-mentioned drawbacks are avoided. According to the present invention a knock-down floor lamp can be shipped prewired in an unassembled condition, with the electrical polarity set at the factory. The lamp components are packaged together in a layering arrangement that minimizes damage and assures that the minimum packing volume is taken up by the components. In fact, the lampshade may readily be packaged in the same compartment with the lamp components. The lamp turnings may be connected together without requiring any relative rotational movement therebetween, the interconnection between the turning providing stability in use and over time.
According to the present invention an unassembled prewired lamp is disposed in a package and is adapted to be assembled into a complete lamp. The lamp includes a first elongated tubular turning having a socket formed at a first end thereof; a second elongated tubular turning; a base having an electrical cord passageway formed therein; means formed with the base and at a first end of the second turning for operatively releasably attaching the base and the second turning together; and means formed at a second end of the first turning and a second end of the second turning for releasably fastening the turnings together. An electrical cord is operatively electrically connected to the socket at a first end thereof and extends through the first and second turnings and the electrical cord passageway in the base, being movable with respect to the turnings and the base. The cord has a plug at a second end thereof, the plug being sized with respect to the base passageway so that it cannot be pulled through the passageway. The cord is significantly longer than the sum of the lengths of the turnings and the base passageway.
Preferably a tray is adapted to be disposed between the turnings, and the turnings can be connected together with a tray therebetween without requiring rotational movement of one turning with respect to the other. Preferably such fastening means include a plate having a plurality of threaded rods extending therefrom generally in the direction of elongation of the first turning and attached to the first turning, bores formed in the tray corresponding to the threaded rods, and a plate attached to the second turning having openings formed therein to receive the threaded rods. Nuts are attached to the ends of the threaded rods once passed through the tray and the second plate.
The lamp components are packaged together in a quadrate carton in a layering arrangement. The turnings are disposed on top with the direction of elongation thereof parallel to sheet separators utilized in the carton, and disposed along the diagonal of the carton. Then a first sheet separator is provided, then the tray, then a second sheet separator, and then the base. The electrical cord passes from the second end of the first turning around the first sheet separator to and through the tray, around the first sheet separator to the second turning second end, from the second turning first end around the first and second sheet separators to the base, and through the cord receiving base passageway. A shrink film plastic envelope encompasses the components and sheet separators, and is operatively attached to the carton bottom with hot melt adhesive or the like. A lampshade is disposed in the carton sandwiched between two sheet separators with packing tape or the like holding the sheet separators sandwiching the lampshade together. A sheet of foam plastic may be wrapped around at least one of the turnings to prevent the turnings from banging into each and marring the finish thereof.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide an improved knock-down lamp that may be readily shipped and assembled. This and other objects of the invention will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description of the invention, and from the appended claims.